Federal Firearms Charges: Felon in Possession, § 924(c), and the Armed Career Criminal Act

Felon in Possession (18 U.S.C. § 922(g))

The most common federal gun charge makes it a crime for certain people — most often those with a prior felony conviction — to possess a firearm or ammunition that has traveled in interstate commerce. Possession can be actual (on your person) or constructive (having control over it, even if it's not physically on you). The government must prove the person knew they possessed the firearm and knew of the status that made possession unlawful.

What this means for you: Many § 922(g) cases turn on possession and knowledge — whether the person actually possessed the firearm, and whether the government can prove it. And because the charge depends on an underlying prohibited status, the validity of that predicate matters too.

Section 924(c): Guns Tied to Drug or Violent Crimes

Section 924(c) is where firearm exposure becomes severe. It imposes a mandatory minimum that runs consecutively — stacked on top of the sentence for the underlying crime — when a firearm is used or carried during and in relation to, or possessed in furtherance of, a federal drug-trafficking crime or crime of violence. The minimum increases if the gun is brandished or discharged, and further for certain weapon types.

Two important points:

• A person can be convicted under § 924(c) even without being convicted of — or even charged with — the underlying predicate offense.
• The "in furtherance" element requires a real nexus between the gun and the crime — more than a firearm merely being present in the same place. Courts weigh factors like the gun's accessibility, whether it was loaded, its proximity to drugs or proceeds, and the circumstances in which it was found.

The First Step Act Changed "Stacking"

This is a critical update, because much of the older information online is now wrong. Historically, prosecutors could "stack" multiple § 924(c) counts in the same case, imposing consecutive 25-year mandatory minimums for each count after the first — even for a first-time offender. The First Step Act of 2018 ended that practice. The enhanced 25-year mandatory minimum for a "second or subsequent" conviction now applies only when the defendant has a prior final § 924(c) conviction from a separate, earlier prosecution — not simply multiple counts charged together. This meaningfully reduced exposure for many defendants.

The Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. § 924(e))

The ACCA is a recidivist enhancement that dramatically raises the stakes on a felon-in-possession charge. If a person convicted under § 922(g) has three prior convictions for a "violent felony" or a "serious drug offense," committed on occasions different from one another, the ACCA imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum — turning what might otherwise be a much shorter sentence into a minimum of fifteen years.

Two areas are heavily litigated:

• What qualifies as a predicate. In Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court struck down the ACCA's "residual clause" as unconstitutionally vague, narrowing what counts as a "violent felony." Whether a given prior qualifies is often contested.
• "Different occasions." The three priors must arise from separate criminal episodes, and whether they do must be clear from the judicial record. This is a frequent and important fight.

What this means for you: Whether the ACCA applies — and whether each prior truly qualifies — can be the difference between a sentence measured in months and a fifteen-year floor. Scrutinizing the predicates is one of the most valuable things a defense can do in these cases.

Common Defense Issues

• Possession and knowledge — did the person actually or constructively possess the firearm, and can the government prove it?
• The § 924(c) nexus — was the gun truly "in furtherance," or just present?
• Challenging ACCA predicates — do the priors qualify, and were they on different occasions?
• Suppression — was the firearm found through a lawful search?
• Second Amendment developments — this is an evolving area of law worth evaluating case by case.

Key Terms

• § 922(g): Felon-in-possession (and other prohibited-person) firearm offense.
• § 924(c): Consecutive mandatory minimum for a gun tied to a drug/violent crime.
• ACCA (§ 924(e)): 15-year minimum for three qualifying priors on different occasions.
• In furtherance: The required nexus between the firearm and the predicate crime.
• Constructive possession: Control over a firearm without it being physically on you.